BLACKBURN centre back Marlon Broomes today vowed to fight for his Ewood future as Rovers prepared to face Derby in the FA Cup this afternoon.

The England Under 21 international was hoping to feature in Graeme Souness's 16 for the first time since Rovers' Worthington Cup clash with Portsmouth in September.

And, though he did not expect to start, he hopes the departure of Christian Dailly may have opened the door to more first team opportunities between now and the end of the season.

"Blackburn's a great club and it would be brilliant if I could get back involved, especially with the club going for promotion," said Broomes.

"With Christian going, I've moved up the ladder and I just want to get my head down and work hard to get my place back. But there's still Henning Berg, Craig Short and Martin Taylor all infront of me.

"And, if it doesn't look like I'll get a game, then I might have to look elsewhere at some point in the future.

"But at the moment, I'm focusing hard on trying to make it at Blackburn.

"And I'd like to stay if I can get back in the team."

Broomes' Ewood future looked bleak a couple of months ago when he was farmed out to Queens Park Rangers on a one month loan. Since then, however, Dailly has been sold to West Ham in a £1.75 million deal. And, with Souness apparently not seeking to bring in a replacement, Broomes could now have a role to play during the promotion run in if either Short, Berg or Taylor were to pick up an injury or suffer a dip in form.

"I've just got to be patient and make sure I take my chance if it arises," said Broomes.

Meanwhile, fellow defender John Curtis believes the job Graeme Souness is currently doing at Ewood mirrors the way Alex Ferguson went about transforming Manchester United.

Curtis -- a former graduate of the Fergie youth revolution at Old Trafford -- believes Souness is laying the foundations for a bright future at Rovers because of the trust he has placed in young players at the club.

"Every manager would prefer to have a young squad which he can then see develop," said Curtis.

"And it's clear the manager here is trying to do the same, judging by the people he's brought in already.

"We've got a lot of young players who are all of a similar age and we can all grow up and develop together."